Several years ago, while working in a refinery, I noticed a relief valve with its inlet block valve completely closed. I radioed an operator for assistance. Within minutes, two operators arrived and confirmed that the valve should not be closed. They opened the valve and thanked me for notifying them. In following up a…
Picture this…you’ve begun work with a manufacturing facility, and you notice that the facility doesn’t seem to have a robust inspection program. As you dig a little deeper, you find that inspections have been done in the past; however, there are no records that anything has been done to that equipment since inspection. In the…
Energy organizations such as chemical manufacturers, oil and gas production, and even pharmaceutical manufacturers strive to maintain a Process Safety Management (PSM) program to ensure the safety of their employees and those around their facilities. Many of these organizations are familiar with the requirements of PSM including the process of conducting Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)…
At every facility, there is a point during the process hazard analysis when the team inevitably dives into “the black hole” of flare/relief/scrubber systems. Following strict HAZOP analysis methodology, a team documents all deviations from normal operating limits. However, with most relief systems, this leaves the team facing numerous causes, and with each source, having…
When performing a process hazard analysis (PHA), often people of different positions and specializations are gathered in the meeting room to assess the chosen process on its safety and ability to safeguard against inherent hazards. These groups can include personnel from maintenance, operations, engineering, HS&E (Health, Safety, and Environmental), and management. This diversity of thought…
Engineers have a bad rap regarding crimes against the literary world. While it may be true a good percentage of the time that engineers prefer to use their writing implements to solve an equation rather than pen a technical masterpiece of prose, it is not an absolute fact that all engineers create a vacuum when…
For facilities having to comply with the 1910.119 Process Safety Management (PSM) mandate of 1992, Process Hazard Analyses (PHAs) are required to be revalidated every five years after the initial effort. To refresh your memory, the mandate requires that Process Safety Information (PSI) be compiled and verified as accurate prior to conducting the initial PHA.…
A scenario recently came up in one of our HAZOP / LOPA studies that made me question how well our industry risk assesses utility systems.
One of the challenges in relief valve sizing is ensuring the stability of the relief valve.
A pressure relief device is the last layer of defense in chemical plants, refineries, and upstream facilities. Documentation of relief system design is required by OSHA to ensure safe plant operation.
